Hundreds of Seniors Celebrated Futures Beyond High School in the 14th Annual College and Career March!

The 14th annual College and Career March brought together hundreds of seniors from eight NYC Outward Bound network schools across all five boroughs to celebrate their journeys beyond high school. The purpose of the College and Career March is to ignite a sense of possibility; encourage students to dream big and pursue their passions; and to support the critical work done every day to help students work towards graduating with a high-quality postsecondary plan. 

In 2023, we rebranded the event to include both ‘college’ and ‘career’ to better reflect the full range of postsecondary experiences and to celebrate not only the majority of our students who go directly to college but also those who choose alternative postsecondary paths. The annual event is an inspiring ritual that helps establish postsecondary planning in participating schools, reminding every student that with perseverance, resilience, hard work — and the necessary school support — each of them can graduate and go on to lead fulfilling, purposeful and economically secure lives.

For many years, seniors participated in the March by mailing the final pieces of their college applications — but now, since the majority of college applications are completed online, most students opt to mail thank you notes to family members, friends, coaches, counselors and mentors to recognize the support systems that have helped them through the postsecondary planning process.

The College March is an annual tradition started at WHEELS and spread by NYC Outward Bound Schools. It helps establish college-going cultures and postsecondary planning in participating schools, reminding every student that with perseverance, resilience, hard work — and the necessary school support — each of them can graduate with a college acceptance in-hand and go on to lead fulfilling, purposeful and economically secure lives. The December date gives seniors a deadline to work toward in submitting their college applications on time.

College March Milestones

2011   

Assistant principal, Jenny Rodriguez at WHEELS conceives the College March and launches the first march at WHEELS, a NYC Outward Bound School in Washington Heights. Capital One Bank and the United States Postal Service (USPS) support the launch.

2012   

NYC Outward Bound Schools spreads the ritual to all of its network schools with support from Capital One Bank and USPS.

2014

President Obama mentioned WHEELS’ College March in his 2014 State of the Union address. With our support, schools across the country replicate the College March and it doubles in size.

2015

We present the College March alongside Capital One Bank at the National College Access Network Conference to further share the practice with other schools.

2016

We partner with the NYC Department of Education’s College Access for All and NYC Mayor’s offices to expand the College March to even more NYC public schools.

2017

Edutopia joins the WHEELS College March and creates a short documentary.    

2020

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we celebrated our first-ever virtual College March On Friday, December 11, 2020! This date also marked the 10th anniversary of the College March and the largest to date, with more than 2,000 high school seniors from across the country celebrating together on Zoom! Watch a recording of the 2020 College March.

2023

The College March is rebranded as The College and Career March to be more inclusive of all postsecondary options. The tradition continues to serve as a powerful symbol of the idea that every student, regardless of background or circumstance, can graduate with a high-quality postsecondary plan, prepared to thrive.

Still have questions? Visit our FAQs.

This year’s March is made possible in part through the support of Employment Practices Group LLC, whose contribution highlights the importance of community involvement in uplifting students’ futures.